Thought For The Week August 10, 2009

Almost all of my performances were silent when I first began hearing magicians talk about the need for scripting your performance so I did not understand the importance of that practice. The few times that I did speak I improvised what I said. Eventually I did some performances, like my Tramp Tradition Show, which required scripting because of cues that would be followed by others. Through experience I have discovered that my best performances were those that were scripted and then memorized.

The first advantage to scripting is figuring out your timing. I was invited to speak for three minutes during a tribute to Richard Snowberg, the Clown Camp Director, at the recent Clown Camp Ž. I scripted my remarks and timed myself as I read them out loud. What I had written took four minutes to read. The conclusion was the most important part and I wanted to make sure I had time to get it in, so I edited out some of the earlier phrases. The shorter version not only fit the time limit better, but it was sharper making it more effective. I did go over my time limit, but not by much, because I didn't allow enough time for laughter when I read it in practice.

Be sure to read your script out loud. Phrases may seem fine when you read them silently but can be tongue twisters when you try to speak them. Also reading a written script out loud helps you to recall it because using two senses, sight and sound, helps lock it into your memory.

Having a script allows you to make discoveries while editing. In a tribute that I performed to my mother I wanted to emphasize that the dates of her birth and death weren't the important parts of her life. About the fourth time that I edited my script I realized that I could say, "On the day that she was born the only thing she accomplished was to open her eyes, cry, and start breathing. On the day that she died she closed her eyes, stopped breathing, and her family cried. Everything she did that was important came on days between those two." I would not have been able to ad lib something that succinct and meaningful.

Having a memorized script actually makes it easier to ad lib because you don't have to think about what is coming next. You know what comes next so you can concentrate on what you are saying at the moment. In my Magic Atlas routine (described in Creativity For Entertainers Volume Three) I start by talking about how difficult it is to find your location in a map book because even though the index tells you it is in B3 that is still a big square full of tiny lettering. Before a recent performance, Pam and Rick Moody had driven Carole, me, and another friend to dinner. Pam had a GPS system in her car. At dinner we discussed the GPS system announcing it was "recalculating" if you decided to vary your route. During my show I realized that I could incorporate that into my routine. I commented about Pam's GPS system recalculating. That got a nice laugh. Then I said, "I don't want somebody telling me where to go so I still rely on maps. The difficult thing about maps is..." That put me right into my scripted routine.

Your script serves as a safety net when you ad lib. If your extemporaneous remarks don't get a good response you switch right back to the words you know from experience get the response that you want.

A memorized script also insures that you don't forget to say something important. You can't stop in the middle of a joke or routine to say, "Oh, by the way, I forgot to tell you..." (That is unless it is part of your character's personality, in which case the mistakes are scripted in.)

A script documents what you included in the performance. That way you can repeat those parts that worked best. (It is often easy to forget an ad lib after a show is over.) A script makes it easy to repeat a routine after a hiatus from performing it. There are some routines I can't perform any longer because I don't remember what I said and did.

Now that I have realized the value of scripting, I also write scripts for my physical routines by describing what I do. This is especially important with the little details essential to success.
How can you use the scripting process to help you plan what you are going to say and do on stage? How can you use a script as a memory aid? How can you use a script to preserve your routines so you can repeat them again?